Katherine Rundell's case for cultivating wonder in a chaotic world

The Sunday Magazine

It's a time of year when many of us try to recapture some of the wonder at the world we felt as kids... and Katherine Rundell has a special gift for doing just that. The British author and Oxford University fellow has drawn comparisons to J.R.R. Tolkein for her fantasy books beloved by younger and older readers alike. She joins Piya Chattopadhyay to talk about two of her latest – Impossible Creatures, which brings unicorns, dragons and griffins to life for children; and Vanishing Treasures, which reflects on animals threatened with extinction for adults – and why she thinks cultivating wonder in worlds both imagined and real is vital.